CO-SEN: Hickenlooper and Gardner run low-visibility campaigns in high-stakes Senate race
The pandemic has made for a duller campaign season across the board — dominated by paid media and Zoom sessions — but that’s especially true in the all-important U.S. Senate race between Democrat John Hickenlooper and Republican incumbent Cory Gardner, according to a dozen political scientists and veteran Colorado politicos.
People with knowledge of the campaigns say this is very much by design, and that the two men have distinct reasons for playing this race safe. For Hickenlooper, the consensus is that he’s not taking any risks because, one, he has consistently led Gardner in polls — though some polls show the margin tightening — and, two, he’s gaffe-prone.
Gardner faces what may be an insurmountable challenge: retaining the Donald Trump base to which he long ago allied himself while also attracting independent voters who overwhelmingly disapprove of the president. It’s difficult to satisfy one group without rankling the other, and the upshot is frequently silence, or a paid advertisement.
The two have appeared in zero combined candidate events to date. Only recently did the two campaigns agree to televised debates, to be held Oct. 9 and Oct. 13.
Wendy Schiller, professor and chair of political science at Brown University, has examined Senate contests across the country, and she says Colorado’s stands out nationally for how low-key and scripted it’s been.
“I think it’s unusual,” she said, “and I don’t think it’s emblematic of most of the really contested races.”
https://www.denverpost.com/2020/09/13/hickenlooper-gardner-senate-colorado-race/